The present invention relates to an improvement in pest control, and more specifically, to a method and system for pest control achieved by providing permanent access to wall cavities and the like via chambers into which pest control chemicals may be sprayed or deposited.
In both residences and commercial buildings, pests such as rodents and insects can make habitation unpleasant and possibly unsanitary or unhealthy for humans. This problem is especially prevalent in urban areas where the availability of garbage and other wastes provides ready nourishment for rats, roaches, and other pests, allowing them to thrive. In addition, pest problems exist in suburban and rural areas where food for pests is available, allowing pests such as mice and ants to thrive. Due to the discomfort and health problems presented, building occupants desire to eliminate pests by applying insecticides or rodenticides to their buildings. In this connection, the phrase "insecticides and rodenticides" refers to any chemical substance used to poison and kill pests, including Dursban, Baygon, Diazanon and various fogging compounds.
Occupants use a number of methods to rid buildings of pests with insecticides or rodenticides. One popular method involves spraying insecticide in an area where pests are found. Such spraying is accomplished with aerosol containers, spray tanks or fogging machines. The aerosol method is commonly used by homeowners because aerosol containers of insecticide are available in local stores and are relatively inexpensive. The RAID brand marketed by the S.C. Johnson Co. of Racine, Wis. is one example of such readily available aerosol insecticides.
Professional exterminators often prefer spray tank application using a hand-pressurized container of insecticide with a hose and nozzle for directing the spray of the insecticide. The initial investment for spray tank systems is much greater than that for aerosol containers, but the greater expense is outweighed by the ability to re-use the tanks and the large amount of insecticide such tanks can hold. These qualities make the spray tank systems attractive to persons such as pest professionals who use insecticides on a regular basis to cover large areas.
The most effective way to apply chemicals by spraying is to spray in any cracks or openings in walls or floors. It is a fact that insects, such as cockroaches and ants, live and multiply in the walls of buildings. Spraying in cracks and crevices reaches the pests contained within the walls. For best results, spraying should be done into the walls at regular intervals to create a chemical residual barrier to kill pests. The treatment may be of limited success, however, if there are not enough crevices to allow access to all parts of the interior of the walls.
If no cracks or openings exist, access to the areas which are overrun by pests is limited. Application of chemical spray to exposed areas such as baseboards may then become necessary. An alternative method of spraying insecticide in an enclosed area is by means of a fogger. A fogger is a misting machine or pressurized canister for use in an enclosed area to release a pest control chemical into the entire enclosed area. Such devices have the advantage of filling the entire room with insecticide in a short period of time without requiring inch-by-inch application. Fogging is often used together with spraying in cracks and crevices in an enclosed area; the fogging draws the insects into the residual chemical barrier already applied to the area. It should be noted that spraying the baseboards and/or perimeters of the rooms or fogging an entire room only reaches a small part of the infestation problem. Insects and rodents simply return into their nests, normally between the interior and exterior walls deep in the structure of the building, where they are protected from such treatment and continue to live and multiply. Moreover, the sprayed areas will be contaminated by the chemical and provides a hazard to children and pets. Such treatment in a commercial kitchen presents additional problems because food preparation cannot begin again until the entire area is cleaned, which often cleans up the treatment chemicals as well and leaves the pests free to thrive.
Baiting with poisoned bait is a popular method of exterminating rodents. If access can be had to the interior of walls or under floors by means of cracks or spaces, the exterminator will place the bait there. Often the cracks or spaces are not large enough for the bait, which also may come in a container too large for the spaces. Accordingly, the exterminator must leave the poisoned bait container in the open room, creating a hazard for children and pets. In addition, leaving the baited container in an open room calls visitors' attention to the pest problem and could embarrass the building occupant.
Leaving a poison such as boric acid in an area inhabited by insects is another popular pest control method. Again, a lack of access to remote nesting areas and the potential health hazards make this method ineffective and undesirable in some cases.
As with all pest control systems, the goal of these systems is to reach as many of the pests as possible. One major disadvantage with each of the above noted systems is that the pest control substance does not always reach the pests to be exterminated since the pests nest remotely from the room interior. With the fogger, the pesticide fog reaches only the open room and a small distance into the cracks and holes in the wall and floor. Generally, only about 10% of the fog reaches the interior of the wall. With a spray system, the spray from the sprayer is sprayed directly into holes and cracks or along the wall and floor, but still does not reach the pests' most remote nesting areas. The baited poison likewise is not near the nesting areas. Therefore the pests are less likely to reach the pest control compounds and they are less likely to be effective. The container of poison is similarly distant from the nesting areas. With each of these known methods of pest extermination, the poisonous pest control substance is exposed to some extent to the room and is therefore potentially hazardous to room occupants.
With spraying, fogging, baiting and direct poisoning, the exterminator's goal is to place insecticide or rodenticide as near as possible to the areas where pests inhabit and nest. These nesting areas are generally hidden from view away from direct access, within walls and under floors, and the only access to these nesting areas is through existing cracks, holes, and spaces. Due to the uneven placement of these cracks and holes, creating a chemical barrier and residual to kill all the existing pests may be impossible. The pests may nest a great distance from the means of access of the chemicals and be outside the radius of the barrier created. Therefore the insecticide or rodenticide may not reach the area desired and the application of it may be ineffective.
A solution to the access problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No 4,800,672. The Jackson patent discloses a centralized fumigation system for exterminating insects in a building. The fumigation system includes a distribution means installed in the building for transferring insecticide from a common reservoir into the interior walls of the building. Jackson's distribution system includes a plurality of tubular means installed in the spaces between walls, in which each of the tubular means has a nozzle at the end for spraying insecticide into the space between walls. This system must be installed as part of the initial construction of the building or will require major reconstruction for retrofit installation. Therefore it is expensive and impractical for most pest control applications. Additionally, the system cannot be utilized with poisoned bait or power pest control methods since it requires a flow of pest control substance through its tubular means.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of pest control which provides access to all possible pest nesting areas in the walls of a building.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of pest control that is safe for use in areas inhabited by humans, especially children, and pets and keep the pest control substances unexposed and safely contained to interior walls.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of pest control that does not interfere with the use of the premises to be treated.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of pest control that is not visible or malodorous.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of pest control that can be used with aerosol, liquid, or solid poisons.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system for pest control that is inexpensive and can easily be retrofit to existing buildings.